


Connections

by beedekka



Category: National Wrestling Alliance, Professional Wrestling
Genre: M/M, Phone Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-18
Updated: 2018-08-18
Packaged: 2019-06-28 23:20:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15717156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beedekka/pseuds/beedekka
Summary: Jason and Chase might be continents and timezones apart, but they're still good at being together.





	Connections

**Author's Note:**

  * For [RedLeaderfic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedLeaderfic/gifts).



Jason ran his fingers carefully across the warm rockface in front of him, pressing into the dips and hollows and feeling his sweat leave invisible trails in the thin layer of dust and grime covering the ancient stone. In a small way, he was making his own mark on the landscape as much as the scratches and scrapes on his skin marked its little touches on him. He was looking for the best handholds, the most promising places to grip. One final stretch remained between him and the rim of the gorge, and he could hear the breeze ruffling the foliage up on the flat path above him, while the noise of the river below him had all but faded away.

Having selected the handholds he wanted, he stayed motionless for a moment to tune into the vibrations humming deep inside the rock, passing into him through his grip and calming the unrelenting thump of his heartbeat as his body answered the demands of the climb. His muscles throbbed and his lips were dry, but despite the excited anticipation of reaching the safe, flat ground, he wasn’t in any hurry to get there. He wanted to savour the beautiful feeling of vulnerability and awe that this landscape gave him; to feel his place in it, insignificant and transient as it was, before making the final push.

A small scatter of stones fell beneath him as he eventually shifted his weight and hoisted himself upwards. He wondered where each of those little pieces would end up. On ledges further down? All the way in the water? In the ocean one day? And while he wondered, he let instinct take over for the last moments of the climb, mind coming back to focus on the brightness of the sky and the sense of hard ground under his shoulders once he was firmly on the flat top of the cliff. The sun wasn’t strong, but he could feel the burn on his skin; there had been no shelter to protect him on the exposed walls of the gorge. No shelter, and no ropes, either, which was entirely the bigger risk…

He whispered a quick ‘thank you’ to the rocks before scrambling to his feet and dusting himself off, ready to wander down the trail and see what the journey was like when you took the long way around. The signal had popped back up on his phone so he snapped a picture and sent it to Sigmon ( _topped out safe. call you from home later_ ), getting the thumbs up emoji back a few seconds later.

Not a bad way to spend an afternoon. 

 

***

 

By the time he got home, the evening was drawing in and the wind had picked up, agitating the wooden wind chimes in the tree beside the porch. Jason looked at the clouds for a moment, gauging if a storm was coming. The forecast had been clear earlier on; he wouldn’t have made the trip across to the gorge if it wasn’t, but now there was an edge to the humidity that was familiar to him – a little tell that the weather was on the turn. He went to the tree and swung up to reach the branch where the chimes were hanging, untying them and hopping down to leave them on the porch.

The housekeeping led his eyes to something else – a package tucked carefully in by the side of the wooden steps, sheltered from casual sight. It was the spot the mailman used when stuff wouldn’t fit in the box, and Jason felt the childish flicker of excitement for receiving a parcel; it was probably only his new 8 x 10s – desperately needed now he’d changed up his look – but still, he was keen to see how they’d turned out. On closer inspection, though, he realised it was something far less rigid inside a plastic envelope, and there was a Hot Topic label on the underside. “What the hell is that, then?” he thought out loud, trying to remember any weird, late night web-shopping he might have forgotten doing recently that would have resulted in something from there being in his mail. He didn’t have long enough to think about it before another hitch in the wind direction landed the first drops of rain on the back of his neck, and he put aside his curiosity to get inside before the heavens opened.

His routine for climbing days was to give Sigmon a final call to verify he was safe back from the whole hike, so he took the package into the living room with him and flopped down on the couch.

“Hey, man,” Sigmon answered on the third ring. “You got the storm yet?”

“Nearly, I think. Would’ve been driving in it if I didn’t leave the park when I did.”

“Glad you’re home already then, and that you didn’t fall off a cliff like a fucking maniac earlier.”

Jason laughed. “Aww, were you worried for me, Sig? My heart’s growing three sizes.”

“That would be to balance out the palpitations you give everyone else when they see the videos and pictures you put up after having a nice day scaling all the tallest deathtraps you can find.”

“It’s not the heights you gotta be worried about, man; it’s the rattlesnakes in the crevices.” 

“What the fuck?” Jason could practically hear Sigmon’s shudder down the phone. “Don’t tell me things like that! Nightmare fuel.”

“Hey, they let you know if you’re coming near them. They’re nature’s considerate snakes.”

“Seriously, Jay – I’m happy you checked in, but now you have, I’m going to hang up before you can plant any more horrific thoughts in my brain. I’ll see you soon, though, I hope?”

“Me too. I don’t know for sure yet, but it looks like I might be away for a bit, then back, then away again, so things are kind of crazy at the moment.”

“Well, safe travels. And despite what I just said, you make sure you still let me – or somebody, whoever – know when you’re heading out to ‘cirque du soleil’ your way up mountains again, yeah?”

“Will do. Thanks for today; I owe you, and sorry for saying about the snakes – it would be very rare to get bit.”

“Way to tempt fate, dude! Please stop talking now,” Sigmon admonished him before finishing the call with an emphatic, “BYE.”

Jason grinned and tossed the phone down on the couch next to him. Snakes and birds might be natural enemies, but he had reason to believe they could find ways to get along.

A second later there was a deep rumble of thunder as the storm outside stepped up a notch, and with his attention drawn to the sound of the rain on the roof and the windows he almost missed the phone vibrating against the cushions. He grabbed it back up, so sure it was Sigmon with something he forgot to say that he didn’t even look at the display. If he had, he would have been far less blindsided by Chase’s voice asking, “So, what are you wearing?”

“I… Excuse me?”

“I’m asking what you got on right now. Come on, don’t be coy – is it something _new?_ ” Chase’s voice was practically purring with pretended lasciviousness, and while Jason was absolutely certain he was joking him, he also had the distinct impression there was a specific angle to it that he was being expected to get. Well, it wouldn’t be the first time Chase’s humour had left him confused…

“Are you drinking?” he tried.

“Nuh-uh. I just woke up.” Chase was full-on giving him the throaty tone of a seventies porno stud now, and Jason was ready to laugh in spite of his bewilderment.

“That is… not better. Why are you calling me up first thing in your morning to horn dog at me from a different continent?”

“Because my experience is you’re kind of into that,” Chase rumbled, “and I just happen to know you might be in possession of some highly sought-after and sexy attire as of today.”

Chase’s chutzpah never failed to amaze Jason, but he wasn’t wrong about the first point – some of the best, ill-advised, crazy hot moments they’d had between them had happened over phonelines and across timezones – and the penny was suddenly dropping on the second part as well, as Jason’s eyes zeroed in on the package he’d previously discarded on the coffee table in front of him. “Oh my god, Chase. If this package has what I think it does inside…”

“Oh, you didn’t open it yet?” Chase enquired nonchalantly, pretty much confirming it was exactly what Jason thought it was. 

“I only just got in.” Jason leant forward and snagged the grey plastic envelope in one hand, anchoring a corner between his knees so he could tear it and pull out the contents without dropping the phone. “You seriously had the ego to order me” – the black and white material shook out sideways into his lap – “your own fuckin’ Bullet Club shirt!”

“Now it’s your own my own Bullet Club shirt,” Chase laughed gleefully. “Did I remember the size?”

Jason looked. “Yeah, but you know I’m _never_ gonna wear this, right?”

Chase mock-gasped. “That’s the way you graciously receive a gift? Who dragged you up?”

“Sorry, I forgot how we’re always so polite between us. And I better not have just heard you questioning my upbringing, Chase Owens.”

“Okay, easy!” Chase laughed again. “I’m not tryin’ to store up a smack. You really wouldn’t wear it?”

“For about a million reasons, mostly involving the concept of ‘rivalry’. I think I’ve got a spare Evolve hoodie kicking around; wanna try wearing that on your next New Japan show?”

“I didn’t mean for you to wear it like that.”

 _No shit, Chowens._ Jason nearly started laughing himself. He could guess exactly how Chase _did_ mean for him to wear it, and he was about to say that when a huge crack of thunder suddenly rolled overhead, powerful enough to make them both startle.

“Jesus Christ, what was that?”

“There’s a thunderstorm.”

“Fuckin’ loud – wow!” Chase exclaimed. Then he continued, more quietly. “It does look good though, doesn’t it?”

Jason held up the shirt and eyed the crystalline skull staring darkly at him. He was all ready to make a comment about tackiness or the calibre of Hot Topic as a retail outlet, but there was something in Chase’s tone that stopped his tongue – it seemed like he was genuinely asking. Well, it didn’t hurt to be a little honest about it. “Yeah,” Jason told him, spreading the material out on his lap again. “It looks real good.”

“Can’t hardly believe I got a shirt in Hot Topic.”

“Your stock’s rising, man. Gonna have money to burn, soon.”

“I don’t even know… I’m just grateful that it happened.”

They fell silent for a moment, and while Chase was presumably busy contemplating his fortune, Jason couldn’t help contemplating his own. No lie, the green-eyed monster still had a stake in his feelings towards Chase, always wondering what had made the difference between them in the minds of the NWA officials that night in Houston. Was it really just between who won or lost that damn match? He’d pretty much figured that victory was the flashpoint that set Chase on a path to Japan and the Bullet Club and everything that came with it. However, the passage of time and the fact that their involvement with each other somehow never seemed to end, no matter what promotions each of them wound up in, had given him a new perspective. So much of their history was intertwined – their shared and opposite highs and lows – that when the flames of their rivalry were at an ebb they’d turned out to reveal an unexpected fondness burning underneath.

Another crack of thunder shook him from his thoughts, and he realised Chase had been speaking again.

“I didn’t hear that over the—”

“Will you put it on for me, just for a while, Jay?” Chase’s request came out in a rush, and Jason was reminded of how much he liked the way Chase's sincerity could slip through his bravado like that every so often.

He brought the shirt to his face and sniffed. “It stinks of dye. It needs washing.”

“Wash it after.”

“After what?”

Chase didn’t answer, but Jason wasn’t serious about the clarification anyway. For all their back and forth, they both knew what the call had been leading up to; what they were expecting it to become. Wordlessly, he set the phone on the couch cushion for a minute and peeled off the dusty vest he’d worn for the climb. Then he flipped the skull to face away from him and pulled Chase’s shirt on, brushing down the creases where it had been folded in the plastic.

“Okay, I’m wearin’ it,” he told him, phone back warm against his ear.

“Yeah? How’s it fit?” Chase asked, and there was a new catch in his voice.

“Tight.” Jason looked at himself. “You can see the shape of my chest; showing it off.”

“…and your arms?”

“Sleeves pull right around my biceps.” He could hear Chase shift, the rustle of fabric on his end of the line. “You still in the bed?”

“Mmm. It’s hot here. Need some of that rain,” Chase murmured. “How’s it _feel?_ ”

Jason traced the white lines of the crossed guns over his abs with his free hand. “Feels good against my skin.” Chase’s breath was just barely audible in his ear, and it hitched like he’d swallowed. Jason let his own breath rise a little so Chase could hear, working his way into what they were doing with the brush of fingers over his body. “Feels really good to touch it like this.”

“Wish I could be there right now.”

“Getting me hard…”

A flash of lightning lit the room bright for an instant before another deep rumble rolled through the rain outside, and Jason could sense the electricity skittering through the earth somewhere near, tiny vibrations shivering back up into everything around him and prickling his skin. “Yeah, it’s getting me hard,” he repeated. _There_ was that familiar energy they could always find with each other, as sure when they were doing this as when they were together in the ring.

“I want to touch you slow,” Chase told him. “I’d slide my hands right under that shirt, push it out the way and—”

“Fuck yeah,” Jason whispered.

“I’d open your belt.” Chase’s voice had slipped impossibly deep, and Jason could listen to that all night.

“Go on.”

“Then open your fly, real fucking slow, ‘cause I know it’ll get you even harder and I want to feel it happen.”

Jason closed his eyes and thought about the first time Chase had done that. Somehow they’d gone from arguing and pushing to up-against-a-wall and forehead-to-forehead, to forgetting what it even was they were angry about when Chase’s defiant glare had suddenly flashed wild with some other emotion that Jason felt just as keenly. In a split second the tension between them had thickened with desire, and Chase’s hand went from flat on Jason’s chest to snaking down his stomach, hovering just shy of the touch that would confirm what they both really wanted from each other.

The thunder and lightning overhead flared almost simultaneously as Jason pulled his buckle open and mirrored what Chase had done then, pushing the button free and dragging the zipper down so achingly slowly that his cock was shifting harder right under his hand. He remembered how Chase’s lips had found his and made the snarl into a kiss that stole all the breath they had by the time his fingers were finally around him and stroking firm.

“You’re so fucking hot to touch,” Chase murmured. “Can you feel it? Are you…”

“Yeah.” He was.

“I wanna make you come like this, wearin’ my shirt and making me come right with you.”

Jason could hear Chase’s breath getting heavy and he knew they were mirroring each other again, hands moving steady and caught up in the moment, heedless of who was where and when and how far apart. They were as close as the shirt was to Jason’s skin, hot and tight and—

“Oh fuck, I’m gonna…” Chase groaned and the sound muffled under another roll of thunder and the incessant downpour against the windows as Jason’s mind blanked like he was back on the sheer side of the cliff, bringing himself up over the edge with a euphoric rush of adrenaline. He let Chase hear it, no shame over anything they’d ever done together; no mistaking that they were good together.

When his breathing had calmed and he was leaning back heavily against the cushions again, Jason eased the phone into a comfortable position and listened to the little sounds of Chase shifting around and settling himself down on the other end of the line. “Are you fixing to get some more sleep?” Jason asked him.

“Maybe talk for a bit?” Chase replied.

“Sure. I ain’t going anywhere tonight.”

“Is the storm still heavy?”

“Mmm.” Jason nodded. “Hey, you want to know what your shirt looks like _now?_ ”

“Bet it looks even better than before.”

Jason held the phone away from him and took a lazy selfie, grinning when Chase laughed at the shutter noise. “Don’t ever say I don’t indulge you, Chowens.”

“I know. I appreciate it.”

“This must have racked your call charges like crazy.”

“Lucky I got that sweet Hot Topic money to burn, right?”

“Seriously, though. Been doing this kind of a lot lately…” Jason decided to put it out there, since they were both being a little unguarded in the afterglow. “Maybe we need to arrange to be in the same actual place as each other a bit more often again?” He was curious to hear Chase’s answer to that.

“Hurry up and make good on your vow to get your ass over here, then,” Chase murmured.

Jason debated whether to tell him about Irie and the offer to join him he had on the table, but Chase sounded half-asleep already, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to jinx any of this right now… In the end he settled for silence, letting it stretch and listening to the rain and Chase’s breathing until he realised both had slowed a little. “Chase?”

“Hmm.”

“Hang up before you doze off.”

“Send me the picture.”

“I will.”

_Perhaps we’ll take one together soon._

 

\--x--


End file.
